• Hit refresh or select our auto-refresh button for the latest • Live scoreboard: Follow all of today’s action from SW19 • Full order of play for day three at the All England Club • Email your thoughts to xan.brooks@guardian.co.uk 1.17pm: Out comes Venus Williams for her opening service game, but she’s sloppy and rusty and Date-Krumm breaks her to love. The Japanese player then claws her way out of a 0-30 deficit to hold for 2-0, finishing off with a glorious drive volley into the open court. Kimiko Date-Krumm, incidentally, played her first Wimbledon way back in 1989 – before 36 of the players in this year’s women’s draw had even been born. Back then the men’s trophy went to Boris Becker and the women’s to Steffi Graff. Back then the spectators wore top hats and returned home in horse-drawn handsome carriages and you could pick up a Centre Court ticket for three-shillings-and-sixpence, and still have change left over for a flagon of mead. It was a happier time, an age of innocence. And, so far at least, the times are a-changing back. 1.03pm: While we wait for Venus Williams (recovering from a hip injury) and Kimiko Date-Krumm (40-years-old and still with all her own teeth) to get play underway on Centre Court, here’s Matt Scott on the (alleged) Problem With Mrs Murray: So Judy Murray is more of a hindrance than a help to her son Andy’s career — according to Boris Becker — and sport’s most famous mum has felt the need to justify herself. “Between the Australian Open in January and the Italian Open [on 8 May] I did not attend a tournament,” she said, which is perhaps a reduction in her courtside commitment. But it is nowhere near as light a touch as Andy Roddick’s parents, with the American world No.10 explaining in his USA Today column: “My parents are here [at Wimbledon] with me this year for the first time since 1997. “It’s the first time they’ve ever seen me play here. I thought they might have snuck over for one of my three finals and were just sitting in the stands, but they swear they haven’t. (They never sit in the player box). I haven’t seen much of them, however. I brought them down to get credentialed a couple days ago and got them lined up for some sightseeing, but they give me my space. They know I have to play a tournament.” Number of Wimbledon finals for Roddick: 3. Number of Wimbledon finals for Murray: 0. Just saying. 12.50pm: Raining hard at Wimbledon and this is how it looks . The PA informs us that this is likely to keep up until around 3pm, after which it will be wine and roses and Monte Carlo levels of sunshine and unfettered play on every spare bit of grass. Possibly. In the meantime the roof is drawn on Centre Court, where proceedings start in about 10-minutes. First up is Venus Williams versus Kimiko Date-Krumm, the battle of the golden oldies. We’ll be covering that while also keeping an eye on the covers. What’s going on under those covers? Are the pygmy professionals of the Lilliputian Tennis Academy playing one of their brutal, unseen contests? Or do the covered courts double as a kind of dormitory for the other players, with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Jurgen Melzer all slumbering on the lawns, waiting to be roused and called to battle? If this deluge keeps up, we may be forced to crawl under and find out just what’s going on. Until then we’re moseying over to Centre Court. 12.24pm: Here’s more from the great Matt Scott on today’s Elf’n’Safety controversy. Wimbledon has been publicly chastised by the health-and-safety ombudsman over its claims that Murray Mount had to be closed in heavy rain. A letter to the Lawn Tennis Association’s chief executive, Roger Draper, and his All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club counterpart, Ian Ritchie, has been made public by Judith Hackitt, the chair of the Health and Safety Executive, and it does not make for pretty reading for the pair. Hackitt’s beef is that the closure of Murray Mount at so high-profile an international event was nothing more than “an excuse”. And it is illuminating that Hackitt says sports fans are frequently subjected to similarly shabby treatment. “There is nothing in health and safety legislation which prohibits the continued broadcasting of centre court action to the crowds on the hill during the rain,” wrote Hackitt. “People have been walking up and down wet grassy slopes for years without catastrophic consequences. If the LTA was concerned about people slipping and suing for their injuries the message should have made clear the decision was ‘on insurance grounds’. “Health and safety excuses are becoming as much a feature of the British sporting calendar as the rain. You will understand that while we can do nothing about the weather, we will not let the excuses pass unchallenged.” Hackitt believes it undermines genuine interventions by the HSE on safety grounds. Wimbledon’s ill-judged decision, it’s the health & safety executive that’s gone mad. We’re now wondering if the picture above might not be of the notorious Elf and Safety. Elf calls to mind a smirking Andy Murray, while Safety resembles a placid, long-haired Roger Federer. Steer well clear. They’ve both gone utterly mad. 12.13pm: Down in the comments, Sociopol wonders why Britain’s Alex Bogdanovic missed out on a Wimbledon wild-card. I believe this is on account of the organisers refusing him one after he lost something like seven first-round matches on the trot (at least I think it was seven: it may have been fewer, like six, or more, like 15). What they gave him, by way of compensation, was a wild-card into the qualifying tournament. Bogdanovic promptly lost in the first round, in straight sets, to a player called Bastian Knittel, who in turn lost in the second round, in straight sets, to Marc Gicquel. Thanks to the Wimbledon daily report for providing such a window into the subterranean pre-history of this year’s tournament. 12.05pm: In other rain-related news, a tweet from Esther Addley: Three hrs of heavy showers, says #wimbledon officials, so no play for foreseeable. How will they stage olympic tennis here next year? 12.00pm: Is here time for an email? It transpires that there is. The courts are covered and the promised midday start rolled back to the afternoon. Wilson Beuys (presumably no relation of Joseph, the avant-garde German artist) has an issue with the Murray mask: Whoever made that Andy Murray mask had a bit of a job on their hands. Where did they find a picture of him where he’s not snarling? I can only assume they altered it in PhotoShop – which explains why it looks nothing like him. Agreed, the image is deeply unsettling. It makes me worry that Murray and Federer have fallen in love, run to seed and are just about to embark on a dead-eyed killing spree, starting at your house, as the rain falls outside. Bolt the windows. Don’t open the door. Then mail to reassure us that all is well. 11.50am: Looking on the bright side, here’s the order of the play for the two main show-courts, where play kicks off at 1pm. First up on Centre is what the tournament’s official “daily report” is dubbing “the Zimmer Frame Special”, pitting 31-year-old Venus Williams against Kimiko Date-Krumm, the Little Miss Methuselah who celebrates her 41st-birthday in September. That’s followed by Nadal versus Sweeting, after which eighth seed Andy Roddick takes on Romania’s Victor Hanescu. Over on uncovered Court One, the 2010 runner-up Thomas Berdych faces France’s Julien Benneteau. Then, all being well, we have Andy Murray battling for a place in the third round against Tobias Kamke of Germany, followed by Britain’s Anne Keothavong versus the talented Petra Kvitova, who sliced and diced her way to last year’s semi-finals. The outside courts, meantime, play host to the likes of Gael Monfils, Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonereva, Richard Gasquet and the redoubtable Mardy Fish. It should be a grand day of tennis. But that “should”, it must be pointed out, comes ringed by lowering clouds and trumpeted by an ominous rumble of thunder. 11.35am: Umbrellas at the ready for day three of these Wimbledon championships, where the sky is like porridge and the met office are predicting heavy showers throughout the day. Already the moisture is gathering in the air around Centre Court and the ground-staff seem as nervous and jittery as rescue-centre greyhounds, all set to bolt for the covers at the first sign of a deluge. Undeterred, Rafael Nadal is currently camped on an outside court, warming up for his second round match against Ryan Sweeting, belting topspin forehands with a blithe insouciance. Regardless of the weather, the reigning champion will be OK. He’s due on Centre, most likely beneath the roof and possibly for the benefit of the rear admiral in the royal box. So bully for him and hurrah for the admiral. But what of the other competitors, cast out in the cold of the outside courts? And what of the lowly-born non-rear admirals who have come all this way to watch them? Here at the All England Club, we are battening down for a lengthy, stuttering afternoon. Stay indoors and watch us drown. 11.26am: An early story knocking around SW19 today concerns health and safety bosses, who have criticised Wimbledon organisers for using their legislation to shut down the hill now known as ‘Murray Mount’ when it rains. History was made at SW19 on Monday when the giant screen was turned off for the first time as officials feared fans would slip and injure themselves. Judith Hackitt, chair of the Health and Safety Executive, wrote to Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association complaining about the decision. The HSE clearly feels it is being wrongly scapegoated whenever there is the slightest chance of anyone getting injured. “People have been walking up and down wet grassy slopes for years without catastrophic consequences. If the LTA was concerned about people slipping and suing for their injuries the message should have made clear the decision was ‘on insurance grounds’.” • Xan will be here shortly. In the meantime, check out today’s order of play and catch up with our reports from yesterday’s matches . • Feast your eyes on the best images from day two with our award-winning photographer Tom Jenkins’s picture gallery . • If reading our Wimbledon live blog has made you want to get down and experience the action at SW19 for yourself, why not enter our competition to win VIP tickets to savour this Saturday’s action. It’s a very simple question. • And check out the weather at Wimbledon here … Wimbledon 2011 Wimbledon Tennis Xan Brooks guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
President has gone uncharacteristically quiet as he recovers from surgery in Cuba, prompting rumours over his health and warnings of instability He is famed as one of the most verbose leaders on earth, a media-obsessed commander-in-chief whose adrenaline-filled speeches often stretch deep into the night. But recent weeks have seen Hugo Chávez fall silent, as the Venezuelan president recovers from emergency hip surgery in Cuba. His uncharacteristic quietness has fuelled a flurry of speculation and criticism back home. Since being admitted to hospital in Cuba on 10 June, Chávez has made just two public appearances, showing up last Friday in four photographs alongside the Cuban president, Raúl Castro, and his brother Fidel, and popping up on 12 June for a telephone interview with Venezuela’s Telesur television network. Normally a prolific tweeter, Chávez’s Twitter profile – @chavezcandanga – has not been used since 4 June. More than 1.6m Chávez followers are missing the president’s 140-character musings on anything from football results to the activities of Venezuela’s state-controlled oil firm, “the most revolutionary oil company in the world”. Even an explosive outbreak of prison violence and a growing power crisis have failed to stir Venezuela’s convalescing president, prompting criticism from the opposition, a spate of online rumours and a fierce reaction from supporters who accuse detractors of launching opportunistic attacks on a sick man. “Such poor, scarce and ambiguous medical updates inevitably trigger rumours that go from liposuction to improve his figure to a back problem that will hinder his ability to campaign, or even a more serious illness,” wrote Luis Vicente León, a columnist for the opposition El Universal, on Sunday. León rejected the idea that Chávez’s absence had created a “power vacuum”, but complained of a “vacuum of respect for Venezuelans, their traditions and their symbols”. Mystery around Chávez’s extended absence briefly thickened on Monday night when one international news agency picked up on a supposed Chávez tweet, in which the Venezuelan leader apparently admitted: “My illness is more complicated than we thought.” Fifteen minutes later, however, the agency retracted its story; the Twitter account was a fake. Supporters of Chávez, who will run for a third presidential term in elections next year, have reacted angrily to criticism of their hospitalised leader. Cilia Flores, an MP from Chávez’s United Socialist party, last week accused opponents of acting “like vampires and vultures trying to see what they can fish from troubled waters”. In a text message to the Guardian on Wednesday, Venezuela’s information minister, Andrés Izarra, said Chávez was “recovering well” but denied rumours that he would return to Caracas in the coming days. Since taking power in 1999, the president has reportedly interrupted normal television programming 2,135 times to address his nation. A briefing by London-based thinktank Latin News said: “In the glaring absence of any official comment, there is wild speculation as to what exactly is afflicting President Chávez. The government’s silence about the president’s condition and his expected return date is … bad form.” “It is absurd that the president can sign documents from Cuba,” said Robert Bottome, from the Caracas-based consultancy VenEconomy, warning that Chávez’s absence could trigger a messy scramble for power in Venezuela. “By disrespecting the constitution,we are leaving the door open to serious turmoil,” he said. Leopoldo Lopez, a prominent Chávez opponent and leader of the Popular Will party, said the furore over the president’s stay in Havana was a distraction from more pressing issues. “The discussion should centre on the key problems that affect millions of Venezuelans with regard to security, the high cost of living, employment and public services. For me, this should be the debate,” he said. Hugo Chávez Venezuela Raúl Castro Tom Phillips guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Crews have made significant progress attacking three major wildfires in Arizona, but fire danger across the Southwest will remain for weeks to come until seasonal rains arrive. (June 22)
Continue reading …
Could an animated film about cars become Big Oil’s next nemesis? In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, “Cars 2″ director John Lasseter discussed the major overhaul to his upcoming film, a revamp that makes Big Oil the bad guys. He told the paper: I kept thinking about, “OK. A spy movie in the world where cars are alive. What would be a really good kind of über bad guy? Who is an über bad guy?” I kept going to big oil. This is before what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Why isn’t alternative fuel more… Why isn’t everybody jumping on that bandwagon? It makes so much sense: Electricity, solar, whatever. There’s ethanol. There’s all this stuff you could be doing. And so I thought, well, that could be really cool in that you could have big oil versus alternative fuel. That’s when we kind of crafted the bad guy’s story. The greatest bad guys, you understand where they’re coming from. They believe they’re doing the right thing. Sometimes it’s for greed, sometimes it’s for other reasons, but they are what they call the center of good. They always believe they’re doing the right thing. A “Cars 2″ trailer advertises, “On their next big road trip, they’re not only racing across the world, they’re racing to save the world.” Some conservatives are already enraged. The Lonely Conservative blog wrote, “We conservatives and believers in free markets are accused of being paranoid when we say the Hollywood industry is trying to indoctrinate our children with left wing propaganda. But now movie directors and producers are coming out and admitting what they’re doing. I’m just glad I found this out before I allowed my kids to persuade me to take them to see the movie ‘Cars 2.’” Indeed. Evil films can brainwash children into caring about the environmental degradation that their generation will have to pay for. Another blogger questioned whether John Lasseter’s message is hypocritical compared to his own actions. Christian Toto wrote, “Doesn’t he realize how much oil will be burned bringing “Cars 2″ merchandise to the marketplace? Should Lasseter, CEO of Pixar and director of “Cars 2,” be criticized for trumpeting green causes while helping Disney burn so much energy for a profit?” While some movies are embracing green filmmaking, the movie industry produces large amounts of waste during and after production. Some would argue that the eco-awareness raised by some films ultimately outweighs the production’s carbon footprint. This isn’t the first time that a Pixar film has upset conservative audiences. According to ThinkProgress, “WALL-E” left right-wingers “apoplectic” over a cute robot on a trashed earth seeking love. WATCH a preview of “Cars 2,” in theaters June 24th:
Continue reading …
The “Yeas & Nays” gossip column at the Washington Examiner captured the latest Ann Coulter fighting with the media “mainstream” on Tuesday: When Ann Coulter stopped by the Heritage Foundation Friday, Yeas & Nays reported that she called CNN's Piers Morgan “stupid.” “But I don't mind stupid people,” she added. (Coulter was annoyed that Morgan asked her about her personal life during an appearance on “Piers Morgan Tonight” in early June.) On Monday, Morgan caught wind of the story and shot back at the acid-tongued blond via Twitter. “Ann Coulter calls ME 'stupid,'” he wrote, followed by the sarcastic hashtag #LikeBeingCalledRecklesslyLustfulByWeiner. Three hours later, the Brit tweeted that he had booked Coulter to appear on his show for round two. “In boxing parlance, I'm gonna whip her sorry reactionary a–. Again,” the CNN host wrote. Morgan gave no official date for the rematch, but said it would take place in three weeks time. CNN has confirmed the interview, while Coulter says she is waiting for approval from Morgan's timeslot competitor Sean Hannity . “Must check with Hannity first,” Coulter told us in an email. “I'm his b—-.” Morgan's latest acerbic tweet : “Looking forward to our rematch in LA on July 13 @AnnCoulter – you getting nervous? #intellectualparamedicsonstandby”
Continue reading …
Type: Video Games Title: Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect See all customer reviews Product Description: The Xbox 360 Console with Kinect. Kinect brings games and entertainment to life in extraordinary new ways – no controller required. Easy to use and instantly fun, Kinect gets everyone off the couch moving, laughing, and cheering. See a ball? Kick it. Control a HD movie with the wave of the hand. Want to join a friend in the fun? Simply jump in. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant. Xbox 360 is more games, entertainment, and fun. Features: Kinect sensor, Built-in Wi-Fi Xbox LIVE, Xbox 360 wireless controller Kinect Adventures game See the details
Continue reading …
Alec Ross says ‘dictatorships are now more vulnerable than ever’ due to protest movements on Facebook and Twitter Hillary Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation at the US state department has lauded the way the internet has become “the Che Guevara of the 21st century” in the Arab Spring uprisings. Speaking at the Guardian’s Activate summit in London on Wednesday , Alec Ross said “dictatorships are now more vulnerable than ever” as disaffected citizens organise influential protest movements on Facebook and Twitter. The US has pledged to back the pro-democracy movements that have swept the Middle East and north Africa since January. Ross welcomed the “redistribution of power” from autocratic regimes to individuals, describing the internet as “wildly disruptive” during the protests in Egypt and Tunisia. “Dictatorships are now more vulnerable than they have ever been before, in part – but not entirely – because of the devolution of power from the nation state to the individual,” he said. “One thesis statement I want to emphasise is how networks disrupt the exercise of power. They devolve power from the nation state – from governments and large institutions – to individuals and small institutions. The overarching pattern is the redistribution of power from governments and large institutions to people and small institutions.” Ross said that the internet had “acted as an accelerant” in the Arab spring uprisings, pointing to the dislodging of former Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in little over a month. The internet had facilitated leaderless movements, Ross added, describing it as the “Che Guevara of the 21st century”. However, he said it was a “bridge too far” to describe the Egyptian uprising as a “Facebook revolution”. Ross added: “If hierarchies are being levelled then people at the top of those hierarchies are finding themselves on much shakier ground. What’s remarkable is the speed, this is lightning fast change taking place and I’ve got to be honest, I think this is fun. It’s going to be wildly disruptive in the next few years and net-net I think this is a good thing.” US president Barack Obama, whose 2008 election campaign Ross helped co-ordinate, threw US support behind the pro-democracy movements in a landmark speech in May. “The status quo is not sustainable,” he said, describing the movements as a “historic opportunity”. Ory Okolloh, the manager of government policy and relations at Google Africa, speaking in the Guardian Activate session, said: “A lot of these uprisings underline that young people not only frustrated – they’ve been frustrate for a long time – but the internet brings you closer to what your life could be and should be like. “We have this revolution, but what happens after the revolution? Technology cannot answer that question: it won’t give you jobs or financing, and won’t help rebuild the economy. If we get too caught up in the role of technology we will be missing a huge opportunity.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Activate conference Internet Digital media Hillary Clinton Arab and Middle East unrest Facebook Social networking Twitter Blogging US foreign policy Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Union gathering hears appeals for co-ordinated walkouts in first week of October if talks to reform public sector pensions collapse David Cameron faces the threat of industrial action during the Conservative party conference after members of Britain’s largest public sector union called for strikes over proposed pension changes. Delegates at Unison’s annual conference heard appeals for co-ordinated walkouts in the first week of October if talks to reform public sector pensions collapse. Amid defiant warnings that state employees will not be railroaded into changes, one council employee at the Manchester conference urged workers to stage walkouts when Cameron comes to the city for his party’s conference on 2 October. “On 2 October, we should come back to this city, and when Cameron and George Osborne get up to speak they should be met with resistance,” John McLoughlin, a Unison delegate from Tower Hamlets council, in London, said. “Wouldn’t it be better if, in that week as well, they know they are going to face the largest wave of strike action in the public sector that this country has ever seen.” Unison delegates are expected to back a motion that will give the union’s leader, Dave Prentis, the power to launch a strike ballot if the pensions talks fail. Unison represents more than 1 million public sector workers – about one-sixth of the UK total. Those discussions are due to end on Monday, and the talks process was jolted last week when the chief secretary to the treasury, Danny Alexander, sparked a union backlash by unilaterally announcing a deal including plans to increase contributions for public sector workers and raise their pension age to 66 by 2020. Jane Carolan, a member of Unison’s executive, attacked Alexander in a speech that was greeted with loud applause by 2,000 delegates. “There are lies, damned lies and the inventions of the ginger Tory poodle,” she said. “We have to be prepared to fight. A strike would be nationally co-ordinated, smart and potentially prolonged.” Prentis, who is leading the union delegation in the government talks, warned of industrial action on an unprecedented scale if ministers pushed through changes such as raising the retirement age without agreement. “This is our union’s call to arms,” he said. “When you get back to your branches, prepare for action.” Adding to recent rhetoric on historic industrial battles, Tony Phillips, a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning service, said: “This won’t be the miners’ strike. This won’t be the general strike of 1926. This time, we are going to win.” The Unison motion calls on the union’s leadership to “build unity across Unison and with other unions to oppose current and proposed detrimental changes to pension rights and, acting within Unison rules and the law, to support service groups and sectors seeking to co-ordinate official national industrial action in defence of pensions”. Building a cross-union consensus on walkouts in the autumn will pose significant logistical challenges for Unison and its peers, because trade union legislation requires pinpoint information on voting data including the number of employees who voted and the departments in which they are employed. Unison and other unions have been scouring their membership databases for months in preparation for a major vote. . Trade unions David Cameron Conservatives Danny Alexander Liberal-Conservative coalition Public sector pensions Public services policy guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Georgia puts probationers to work in fields after farmers complain about a new law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration in the state. (June 22)
Continue reading …